This invention relates to method and apparatus for fitting an elastic ring such as a piston seal, a rubber ring, an O-ring or the like into an inner circumferential groove of an article such as a cylinder or the like.
Conventionally, the resilient ring of the type aforementioned has been fitted manually into the groove of the article, because, the configuration of the ring changes easily and it has been difficult to automatically fit the ring into the groove. Further, the ring has sometimes been fitted in a considerably recessed or deep location in the article and, a plurality of rings have sometimes been arranged in axially spaced grooves in a bore of the article, in such cases, particularly when the ring is fitted at a location which is not accessible by fingers of the worker, fitting operation is troublesome and time consuming.